


Imaginary Friends

by Kaibbage (Lalaen)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mental Institution, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Schizophrenia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-04-13 22:52:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4540482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lalaen/pseuds/Kaibbage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Joey decides to kill his father in order to protect Serenity, he knows it means his life is over. When he's sent to a juvenile group home for the criminally insane, he doesn't expect to run into the most perfect human being he's ever met and the first friend he's ever had. Maybe Yugi is just what he needs. Maybe his life isn't over after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Straight up wishshipping. I don't have an excuse for this - it came to me and I started writing it. I'll be adding tags for anything triggering that comes up in future chapters, though so far as I know anything big (ie suicide) would only be a passing reference. 
> 
> There's a lot of swearing. Because let's be honest, if Yugioh had a higher rating Joey would be swearing a hell of a lot.

He'd just wanted to protect her. All he'd wanted was to protect his sister.

No matter what, Joey couldn't let his scumbag dad do to her what he'd done to his own son.

No matter what.

Now she was probably fucking terrified of him. Joey told himself that didn't matter. He didn't matter. He was already fucking screwed. Sacrificing what little of a life he had left so that she could be happy was nothing. It'd still hurt too much to look at her when he'd been brought into the courtroom in handcuffs, he didn't want to see the fear in her eyes.

"Hi! Will you play cards with me?"

Joey was startled from his reverie by the cheerful voice. A boy that honestly looked too young to be in this part of the group home had sat down on the other side of the table without him noticing.

"What?"

"Play cards with me," the boy repeated with a grin. He looked a little weird, but Joey told himself he should probably expect people to be fucking weird. This place was basically jail for crazy kids. This one had red spiky hair and bleached bangs, and he wore a big chunky necklace with a gold pyramid or something on it over his uniform tshirt; which it looked like he'd cut the sleeves off of.

"You're weird," Joey scoffed, resting his chin back on his hand. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen," the boy answered without hesitation. He still seemed cheerful and almost excited, even though Joey was putting him off. "And you're the one sitting by yourself. That's pretty weird. I'm Yugi."

Joey was a little stunned by his persistence. No one had ever tried this hard to talk to him, certainly not by being this friendly. "Uh. Joey Wheeler."

Yugi grinned at him. "Do you know how to play 21? I mean, it's pretty much blackjack but they don't let us play any gambling games here. So we call it 21 and don't bet."

"Yeah," Joey said dumbly. He would love to snap at the kid again, but he was being totally killed with kindness. He barely had an opportunity to be nasty to him. Hell, Yugi was already dealing him a card. "What shit are you in for?" Joey grunted, hoping that was rude enough to make him go away.

"Oh, I'm just here with Yami," he replied casually. "I'm the good one. He always says so."

Joey was about to ask him who the fuck he was talking about when he realized the kid had just dealt to the space beside him. Like, as if he thought someone was sitting there.

Oh great. Awesome. Just fucking awesome. He was totally off his goddamn nut. Joey didn't know why he'd expected anything else.

"Hey Ryou, come play cards!" Yugi called, waving over another guy. Could he not take a fucking hint? Now Joey would have to be an asshole to two psychos. Three if he counted this one's fucking imaginary friend, which for the record he wasn't going to do.

A kid with long white hair sat down on the bench next to Joey, making him bristle and shift away a bit. This one had to be like, an albino? His eyes weren't red, but he was so pale he looked like death and with that fucking hair he had to be. Even without the red eyes he was super creepy. "Hi Yugi, hi Yami," he said in a soft voice. Clearly crazy enough to play into the other one's insanity. Joey already couldn't remember this guy's name and he didn't really give a shit. "Who's your new friend?"

"His name is Joey. Yami said we would be friends and he'd play cards with me."

"Look," Joey said, his voice nearing a growl. "Ain't no one else who can speak for me but me. Got it?"

"He's not speaking for you, he just knows stuff." Yugi had already dealt a second card to the empty space, and had a second hovering over Joey's spot. "You want a hit, right?"

Joey huffed at him, but grudgingly looked at his card. "Yeah. Hit."

"Me too," the albino said, also sounding way too stupid fucking happy. Did these idiots know where they were? Probably not, seeing as they were fucking crazy. This was just great. He sat and simmered quietly while Yugi handed out a few more rounds of cards.

"I think Yami won again," Yugi said, his lips pressed into a slight pout. Joey was just about to call him on his fucking bullshitting when he picked up the cards next to him and showed that they were a five, a six and a queen.

"What the fuck?" Joey said instead. "You've gotta be kiddin me."

"Yami is really good at games," Yugi said with a little chuckle.

Joey found himself looking at the albino for some fucking reason for support. Even more unfortunately, he just gave a little smile of his own and shrugged. "He is. He always wins. It's a touch frustrating." Joey just stared at him, barely stopping himself from blurting out that there was no one fucking there.

The albino flicked his eyes over to Yugi and gave a slight nod. Joey closed his mouth.

"Let's play another hand," Yugi collected up the cards, oblivious, and started dealing them out again.

"Let's not," Joey grumbled. He found himself receiving another card anyways. He was going to rot in here with all these crazies, and they wouldn't even let him do it in peace.

Someone punched him in the shoulder. It didn't really hurt, but it wasn't a light tap for his attention either. A lot of things in Joey's life had him react very badly when people got in his space, never mind when they hit him. It wasn't just his dad, the neighborhood he'd grew up in was lousy with gangs and someone was always looking to beat the living shit out of you. "Hey! Fucking watch it!"

The guy standing next to the table didn't even flinch when he yelled, instead just holding out his hand like he wanted to give something. "Roll my dice," he said - more like demanded.

"What?" Joey squinted at him, totally taken aback but no less offended.

"Roll them," the newcomer practically barked, shoving his hand towards Joey again; who swatted it away almost reflexively.

"Fuck off!"

The guy's lip curled in a snarl, and his hand drew back like he was going to throw a real punch this time. Joey didn't care. He was so fucking ready. He would beat the tar out of this guy and pull him inside out. He'd get in trouble, maybe shock therapy or being strapped to a bed or who knew, but he didn't care. No one crossed Joey Wheeler and got away with it. He was fucked anyways.

"Stop!"

Both of them turned to look at the shrill interruption. Yugi was standing, his hands planted firmly on the table. He was tiny even standing, but had something about him you had to stop and listen to nonetheless. "Duke, this is my friend. Leave him alone."

The guy, Duke or whatever, backed up a step, scuffing his toe against the floor. "I want him to roll the dice." He had a long black ponytail and he looked like a total dumbass.

"You can ask nicely!" Yugi said, crossing his arms over his chest. Duke backed right off, muttering to himself and fiddling with the dice in his hand.

Joey just stared at Yugi in shock. Friend? What the hell? He hadn't said one nice thing to the kid. How were they friends? He'd only had maybe one friend back home, and that was Tristan. They still beat the fucking hell out of each other, they just beat other people more. He was less a friend, more an ally when shit got super bad on the streets.

Now Yugi was his friend? What?

"I don't have no fucking friends," he said suspiciously.

Yugi gave him a big happy smile. "You do now! I'm your friend, and Yami is too."

There was kind of a weird tight feeling in Joey's chest. What was wrong with this little weirdo? What was his angle? He stared at Yugi blankly. There was an honest look in those big purple eyes, a willing vulnerability that Joey couldn't recall seeing in anyone before. Why was he doing that at some total asshole he just met? Though Joey could be exceptionally stubborn, his sister had always told him he could also be frighteningly empathetic and emotionally perceptive. He'd always dismissed that as being fucking gay, but now Yugi was looking at him with that sweet open gaze and he felt like a total sack of shit for ever snapping at him.

"Okay," he said slowly, holding his fist out for Yugi to tap knuckles with him. "Friends."

A much smaller fist bumped against his. "Friends," Yugi repeated back at him, looking incredibly pleased at the acceptance. Joey couldn't help but give him a little smile in return. "I didn't introduce you to Ryou properly! This is my other friend, Ryou," he gestured to the albino, who gave Joey an awkward little wave. Joey couldn't help but wonder what this guy could've possibly done to land himself in here. He might come off as a little creepy, but he seemed totally harmless and mild mannered. "That jerk was Duke. He can be pretty okay when he's calm and stuff. Um, that guy over there is Weevil. That one's Rex." He started pointing out people in the room and naming them. Joey didn't really give a shit, but he let Yugi go through it and pretended he sort of did. He owed the kid after treating him bad for no reason. "I guess I didn't introduce Yami, either!" He exclaimed as he sat back properly on the bench. "This is Yami," he gestured to the nothing beside him. "He barely needs an introduction, right?"

"Yeah," Joey said unsurely, side-eying Ryou. "Quite a guy."

Yugi nodded, looking satisfied. "We're going to see if I can get us better cards. They might let us play Munchkins."

Joey had no idea what the hell that was. It sounded stupid, but Ryou looked kind of excited about it. Better than playing Old Maid forever, maybe. When Yugi got up, he spoke quietly at Ryou without turning his head to look at him, hoping that way it wouldn't be so obvious he was talking about Yugi as soon as he left. "Ok, so what the hell is up with him?"

"I assume you mean Yami?" Ryou replied, and for the first time Joey noticed that he had a soft British accent. "Uh, well. He's very convinced Yami is a real person, who is connected to him. I really, really recommend you don't challenge that." His words were so soft, almost pleading, that it was impossible for Joey to give him shit for being bossy. It was just some genuine advice. He was guessing Yugi lost his shit or something if someone told him Yami was like, an imaginary friend. Ok, whatever. When in Rome, right? He had to start just rolling with these crazy motherfuckers.

"Got ya," he said with a nod. He really wasn't planning on hurting his new... friend? Any more than he already had - if he had hurt him at all. Yugi hadn't seemed too affected by Joey's rudeness.

It was only a moment before Yugi plopped back down at the table, which was kind of a good thing because Joey wasn't sure if he could keep a conversation going with Ryou. He was the kind of person who wasn't super easy to talk to. "Have you played this game, Joey?"

"Eh. Don't think so." He watched as Yugi pulled out the cards, the kid looking even more delighted about getting to teach him. It was pretty cute. Cute? Yeah. Like when Serenity got a new outfit from her mom and had to put it on to show it off for him right away. Kinda like that.

The game was alright - Joey didn't get into it like Ryou did, but it was easily better than messing around with a deck of cards once he got the hang of it. A few hours later, the staff came to usher them to their rooms. Ryou and Yugi bid him friendly goodbyes and were shooed in the same direction; so he assumed they must live in the same hallway.  Joey was in surprisingly a much better mood than he could have guessed as he was escorted through the long, cold and sterile hallways. Friends. Huh. Who would've thought. The staff member who had walked with him indicated the room that he'd seen briefly before when he'd left his small bag of stuff - he didn't have much in the first place but had been allowed even less. He was told that lights were out at ten, at which time he had to be alone in his room with the door closed. Staff would be around to lock it. Joey had never been a fan of rules, but in this case he didn't have much of a choice. He could be in actual prison, which would be worse. Probably. The room looked a little like a cell alright, with a toilet just sort of in the corner and everything; and a tiny window with wire mesh over it. When he sat on the bed he heard the crunch of plastic under the sheets and made a face. This would be great to sleep on.

He was only in there a minute before he heard a tapping sound and suddenly became very aware of someone standing in the door frame. Another one. He couldn't wait.

There was a guy drumming his fingers rhythmically on the metal door frame. The first thing he noticed about this one was that he had his white t shirt tied up just above his belly button. His hip was cocked to the side.

"I'm across the hallway."

"Uh," Joey said stupidly, then recovered from his mild surprise. "Joey."

"Marik," he answered simply. He paused, pursing his lips noticeably, then grunted. "So what did you do?"

Joey barely hesitated at all. "Killed my dad." He wasn't proud, but he wasn't sorry either; and he was pretty sure his tone reflected that accurately. He was just relaying the facts.

"Crime buddies," Marik said, a tiny hint of a laugh in his voice. "Patricide, I mean. Me too. Or so they tell me. I bet your old man deserved it." He turned on his heel and walked out without any other words, or really explaining what he meant. It was then that Joey realized this guy was barefoot. For some reason, that struck him as way crazier than anything Marik had actually said. He was going to be seeing a lot of this guy? Also awesome and great. Plastic sheets level great.

Joey sighed to himself and stared at the wall. His old man _had_ deserved it. His hands balled unconsciously into fists.

He had.


	2. Chapter 2

Very quickly, time lost all meaning. Joey was pretty sure he'd only been in this place for a week, but it already felt like months. Every day was the exact same - lights turn on automatically, go to breakfast, shower, group therapy, lunch, free time with a psychologist appointment in there somewhere, dinner, a little more free time, back to the rooms then the lights go out. Go to sleep and wake up and do it again. It was numbing and honestly kind of made Joey feel crazier than he ever had back home, no matter what his dad did. It didn't help that he used to be able to go get in a fucking fight pretty much whenever he wanted, and here there was no outlet for his anger. 

Despite all that shit, well. He did have a friend, now. It was kind of surreal to be honest. Yugi was just like kids cartoons said friends should be. He talked to Joey and really cared about the stuff he answered with. Were all friends like that? There was no way. Yugi was special. He'd only known Joey for a week and treated him with nothing but kindness and actually wanted to talk to him and shit. That was just crazy. 

Joey realized that was a stupid thing to think, because obviously crazy was kind of the fucking norm here. The friend he was getting all dumb over was like, some kind of schizo who thought he had like... A twin? Or something. Yugi thought everyone could see Yami so there wasn't a hell of a lot said about what he looked like. 

"... To kill myself when I was thirteen," Marik said in the same casual, borderline cheerful tone that he always used. Holy shit, he was still here. "I guess bedsheets weren't the best option, but I didn't have a choice? I mean I was already banned from having sharp objects from the year before that. It's just really hard to hang yourself fast, though. So they cut me down, and I haven't caused any trouble since."

Joey could not fathom why he was being told this. He'd say it was pathetic, but it actually seemed like the weirdo wasn't looking for sympathy at all. He was just... Rambling. Like he actually just had no clue what to talk about. That kind of made sense, in a fucked up way; because he'd been pretty quick to tell Joey he'd been at this institution since he was a kid. 

"It's easier not to cause trouble," Marik was swinging his feet off the side of the bed. "I used to try and escape all the time, but they just take all your things." His face twisted into a dark pout. "I hate it here. I want to go and see what normal teenagers live like." 

It'd only taken Joey maybe two days to learn that he wasn't expected to actually participate in the conversation when Marik was talking. However Joey could be a little bit of a loudmouth himself. "It's not that great yanno. This place, you get fed at least." And there was no gun violence. Yeah, he couldn't smoke or punch someone to make himself feel better and it was so boring he just knew his brain was rotting right out of his head, but he'd take it over his dad. 

He realized for what seemed like the hundredth time since he'd done it that he wasn't ever going to have to face his dad again. As always, his emotional response was a confusing mess - guilt, relief, more guilt for feeling so relieved. 

"Hey!" Marik was snapping his fingers at him, demanding his attention. "You said you have a sister, right?"

"Yeah." As always, Joey bristled a little at the mention of Serenity; totally ready to jump to her defense. 

Marik grinned at him and held out a bottle of nail polish. "You know how to paint nails?" 

Joey responded with a snort of laughter that he couldn't contain. "Nah, man. She did mine once, but that's about it."

The look that came over Marik's face was like a weird kind of longing. "My sister used to paint my nails too," he said, his voice so quiet and soft that Joey almost didn't recognize it. "When I was little I thought hers were so pretty, so I begged her to do mine too. Our father hated it." 

He hadn't known Marik had a sister, though who knew if that was because he hadn't mentioned her or because Joey hadn't been listening when he did. Joey knew he should really say something in response, but he had no idea what it was supposed to be. "Eh. Guess she didn't care what he thought." 

Marik brightened up again, so maybe that was at least passable. "No, she never did." Joey was not sure when he started giving the slightest shit about whether he offended this prick or not. Maybe Yugi being such a sweetheart was rubbing off on him. 

Lights out warning came pretty soon after, and Marik wandered barefoot back across the hall. As much as Joey thought of him as an annoyance, it was eerily quiet with him gone and the lights out. A little yellow light from the hall came through the tiny square window in the room's door, but otherwise it was pretty pitch black. Joey always told himself that he wasn't afraid of anything, but the truth was the dark had always made him pretty nervous. Yeah, he was pretty much a grown ass man now and knew that was stupid. It was still a little hard to sleep like this. 

A tiny knock on the big steel door made him almost jump out of his skin. He sat bolt upright as he heard the lock click. What the fuck was going on? The door slowly started to open and...

It was Yugi. He was grinning ear to ear. 

"Fuck," Joey whispered. "I almost punched you in the face, Yug." 

"I'm glad you didn't. Ryou's hungry so we're going down to the kitchen. You should come." He was wearing the kind of pajamas eight year olds wore, with the button down shirts. Nobody wore those. Somehow he made them look kinda cute. 

Joey was always down for some mischief, so a matching smile started to grow on his face, too. He followed Yugi without question, slipping out of bed and through the slightly open door without any questions. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but who cared? He also really wanted to know how his friend had the key for his room, but he'd ask later. He wasn't going to be the guy who got them caught because he was being too talky. 

The hall was lit but deserted, and when he looked towards the double doors at the end Joey saw that they were cracked open. A white-haired head peeked around the door. 

"Hi Joey," Ryou greeted him pleasantly but even more quietly than usual. He was wearing what had to be at least a 2XL tshirt on what was probably his XS frame, and halloween pajama pants. He was a weird kid. A nice kid, but a weird one. 

Once they left the main and dorm halls, the lights were out other than the glowing red emergency ones. Which were actually almost creepier than pitch darkness, in Joey's opinion. He didn't know where the actual kitchen was, never mind in the dark, so he let the other two lead. Soon they were stopping in front of a large metal double door that looked like basically all the others. Joey shifted from foot to foot while they messed around with some keys - the floor was really cold, and since he'd been in bed he had bare feet. How did Marik do this all the time? Once they'd all slipped inside, Yugi ever so carefully closed the door to muffle the sound of the latch. Joey knew that trick well. No doubt anyone with a family member who was easy to wake up was, and even more so if that family member was kind of violent. 

"It's ok, there's no cameras in here." Yugi said brightly, speaking in a more normal soft tone instead of a bare whisper. "Honestly, we don't think there's any in the dorm halls either. We've never been caught." 

Light spilled across the floor as Ryou opened the industrial refrigerator. "It's because we're in minimum security," the albino straightened up with a few oranges in his hands, toeing the fridge closed while being careful not to drop any. "They have other things to worry about than us. We're just here because we had to get put somewhere."

Joey boosted himself up to sit on the metal counter in the middle of the kitchen. He was tall and had long legs, so it wasn't hard in the slightest. Ryou was right, of course. Joey knew damn well he was here because the jury felt bad sending him to jail. Everyone else he'd met was kinda nuts, sure, but seemed harmless. Hell, he couldn't even figure out what was wrong with Ryou. He was just the weird kid that sat in the back of everyone's math class, for all Joey could tell. "Wait, there's higher security shit here?"

"Sure," Yugi said. He started trying to get up and sit next to Joey, but he wasn't really getting anywhere. The taller boy nonchalantly reached down and grabbed him under his armpits, hauling him up onto the counter as well. "Thanks Joey!" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "There's high security patients, and there's suicide watch too." 

"Uh. Does Yami need help up?" Joey tried not to feel awkward asking. He had no idea what he'd do if Yugi said yes. Mime it? What if he reached out to totally the wrong place?

"No, he always finds his own way. He says thank you, though."

Wow, sometimes Yugi said some downright creepy shit. 

Ryou wandered over and handed them each an orange before sitting cross legged on the tile floor. Joey had learned pretty quick not to question stuff like that in this place, so he didn't. 

"The trick to getting out at night is entirely in missing the patrols. There's one every fifteen minutes." Ryou said matter-of-factly, picking at his orange peel with his finger nails. 

"Oh yeah. How did you guys get those keys, anyways?" Joey asked, suddenly remembering that he'd really wanted to know that. 

"Bakura," it was an immediate answer in the same tone as before. "He lifted them quite a while ago."

"Who's Bakura?" Joey was wracking his brains, but was reasonably sure he'd never met the guy. He might be stupid, but he was pretty decent at remembering people. 

"My brother," Ryou said, eating a piece of his orange. "I'm sure you'll meet him soon."

Ryou's brother was here too? Huh. They must be kept in completely separate sections. Made sense. He probably turned Ryou into a total troublemaker or something. "Cool," Joey said indifferently, peeling his orange. He was admittedly pretty hungry, the portions here weren't that big. It was more than he'd gotten to eat at home, but he was a teenage boy after all. He could eat a lot.

"That's a silly thing to talk about," Yugi said suddenly, a tinge of embarrassment in his voice. Joey was extremely confused until he realized that Yugi was talking to the air beside him. Fuck. That was hard to get used to. "It's not the same as if you'd wanted to be a police officer."

Ryou had an almost uncanny ability to pick up on Yugi's half of the conversation like he'd heard it all. Joey could only assume that was from knowing Yugi for so long. "I always wanted to be a ghost hunter. But I don't think it pays well." That just really doesn't surprise Joey at all. Of course he did. If anything, it's surprising he hadn't actually wanted to be a ghost. 

A hand laid itself on Joey's arm, and he looked down into those honest violet eyes. "What did you want to be when you grew up?" Suddenly Joey felt very awkward and too warm, despite not wearing a shirt. He'd... Never really thought about it. 

"Alive, I guess." He said with a shrug. He immediately regretted saying it - Yugi looked heartbroken. Fuck. He really hadn't meant it like that, if anything he'd been kind of trying to be funny. 

"I'm really sorry things were so bad for you," Yugi said quietly, his hand tightening on Joey's arm. "It must have been terrible." 

"Hey, no no." Joey said quickly, pulling a face. "I don't need no sympathy, ok? I'm just fine." He hated when people felt sorry for him. "Feel sorry for Ryou over there, his shirt's fallin right off him." 

Ryou snickered, pulling the shirt properly back on his shoulder. 

"I wanted to be a professional gamer," Yugi said sheepishly. "Grandpa told me I had to go to school."

"I think you're good enough at games." Ryou said, finishing up his fruit. 

Yugi shrugged, and Joey realized that his hand was still clasping his arm. Oh. Huh. "Yami's better than me." 

"Nah. Don't sell yourself short." Joey clapped him on the back, then realized his arm was essentially around Yugi and gave up, pulling him into a rough side hug. He was so little that his shoulder fit comfortably into the hollow of Joey's armpit when he lifted his arm. Yugi was really fucking important and even he wasn't allowed to say anything bad about himself. 

Oh shit, had he said that out loud? Yugi was beaming up at him. Going a little red in the face, Joey awkwardly took his arm back. 

Oops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blindsided by marik feels tbh


	3. Chapter 3

Group therapy was never really an adventure that Joey looked forwards to. It absolutely did make him see why Marik thought it was normal and okay to sit there rambling to him about suicide attempts, though. Wow was that shit ever normalized here. The one good thing about it was that everyone else usually had enough to say that Joey mostly got away with not speaking at all. He hated that they forced him to talk about his childhood with some asshole old fart during his therapy sessions, as if he was going to talk to all these fucks about his dad kicking the shit out of him. It was pretty par for the course here anyways. Marik had talked about how his dad had always praised him but made him watch his adopted older brother get beaten. That was pretty fucked. 

Joey should have known today's sympathy circle jerk was going straight to hell when someone tried to sit in the empty chair on the other side of Yugi before it even started. This was the only thing he'd ever seen fuck with Yugi's sweet and cheerful demeanor. He stood up abruptly, tension in every line of that small body. Joey immediately got to his feet too, putting his hands on trembling shoulders. He heard the scrape of Ryou's chair behind him. "Excuse me," Yugi said in an angry voice that sounded nothing like him at all. The guy jumped, and it seemed, realized who he'd accidentally sat next to. "What do you think you're doing?"

Feeling Yugi shake under his hands, Joey was sure that he was only telling himself he was angry. Joey could hear a frantic edge to his voice, and had the feeling he might start having a panic attack. It was like he knew that response didn't make sense, or something. And anger did. Yeah. Maybe?

"You apologize to Yami right now," Yugi demanded, and over his spiky hair Joey shot the guy what he hoped was a pleading look but probably looked more like he was going to rip his throat out. "That was so rude of you."

"I'm sure it was just a mistake, Yugi..." That was Ryou's voice, and Joey sensed the albino had come up beside him; though he was not about to take his eyes away from what was going on to check. It wasn't like he thought Yugi was going to get hurt or hurt someone, but the surge of protectiveness he felt was past making sense. He would destroy people for this kid. 

The psychologist who was overseeing them finally intervened, thank fuck. "Mako, you need to apologize to Yami," he said slowly. Joey gritted his teeth. He'd really like it if the fuckbag apologized to Yugi too. 

"Of course," the guy collected himself, or whatever, and humbly inclined his head in Yugi's direction. "I'm very sorry, Yami. You too, Yugi. It was really clumsy to not see someone sitting there."

"Sure was, buddy," Joey grumbled, but he felt Yugi relax under his hands. As Yugi relaxed, so did he. Shit, it'd been almost unbearable seeing him so upset. Now that it was ending, Joey realized just how much his blood had been boiling. He gave Yugi's shoulders a squeeze before forcing himself to let go. He didn't sit down until Yugi did, looking fretful but calm now. "No, it's very rude..." Yugi said quietly, addressing the chair beside him. "I just want to protect you in return..." His pout indicated that Yami was also telling him to simmer down, and Joey was happy about that. He looked over at Ryou to share a glance of relief, but the albino wasn't looking at him or Yugi. He was kind of just staring at the ground, and the way his bangs fell hid most of his face. Something struck Joey as kind of off. He opened his mouth to ask Ryou if he was okay, but before he could actually say it the psychologist called for their attention. 

Joey shut his mouth immediately. Talking over this guy usually wound up with him picking on you and making you talk during the session, which was bullshit but pretty fucking good at getting even a loudmouth like Joey to shut the hell up. This was one situation he certainly didn't want to talk in. 

"Is there anyone who wants to begin today's session?" The psychologist asked calmly, setting his clipboard on his lap. Joey narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself that if this guy bugged Yugi he'd - "Yugi, do you want to talk about what just happened?" For fucks sake. 

Yugi raised his head to reply, but Joey cut in. "Look buddy, he's fine now. Just give him a sec, okay?" Yugi's gaze moved onto him instead, giving him a tiny smile. 

"It's okay, Joey," he whispered, but he was a little bit pink. He must be embarrassed by all this attention, it made sense seeing as he was a pretty quiet kid. Joey was really glad he'd stood up for his friend. 

"Joseph," the psychologist used a condescending tone that made Joey grit his teeth in anger. Never mind that the only fucking person who ever called him his full name was dear old dad. "We've spoken before about talking out of turn. You have to let Yugi answer the question I asked _him_."

Gritting his teeth became out and out grinding. He crossed his arms over his chest and forced himself not to speak. This guy was going to upset Yugi again, and he was supposed to just sit here and let that happen? His gaze was fixed on his little friend, who leaned forwards on the shitty folding chair, rocking his weight onto his hands that were clutching the edge of the seat. It looked like Yugi was chewing the inside of his cheek as he tried to think of something to say. It took everything Joey had not to interrupt again. 

"I don't like it when people treat Yami like he's... Less than human, I guess," Yugi muttered sheepishly. 

"How do you feel when you see that happen?" The doctor asked. Jesus Christ, Joey wanted to punch him. It was pretty obvious the way it made Yugi feel, wasn't it?

Yugi shrugged, looking away from the doctor. Normally he didn't have any trouble making eye contact, but he got squirrelly whenever anyone asked him this kind of thing. "It makes me pretty mad. Yami does so much for me, and he really deserves respect."

"So far as your record is concerned, what he's done for you is made you an inpatient in this facility. You know that, don't you?" The doctor was now using a quiet and wheedling tone that Joey might even like less than the condescending one. 

"I'm here because he can't be apart from me," Yugi said without hesitation. Though he still wouldn't meet eyes, he stuck his chin out defiantly. It made Joey sort of proud to see him do that - had the kid actually picked it up from him?

"Do you not resent him for getting you into trouble?" The question wasn't even finished before Yugi was shaking his head firmly. The doctor seemed to realize he wasn't going to get much more. Joey knew this had been going on far longer than he'd been here, and he wasn't too stupid to know that this exact conversation must've gone down at least a hundred times. He was so focused on Yugi still that when the doctor called on him again it took him a moment to even notice. "Joesph."

"Don't call me that," he growled before he could catch himself. Fuck. Just great. 

"Why not?" He could see that pen poised over the clipboard, and it was hard to stop himself from flying into an actual rage. No old fucking bastard was gonna write down psychobabble shit about him. Clenching his teeth so hard his jaw hurt, Joey made himself give a brusque shrug instead. 

"... Very well. Ryou?"

Joey's relief at being left alone was very short-lived. Instead of the soft replies he'd gotten used to, there was a harsh chuckle. Joey had never heard Ryou laugh anything like that; would honestly never guess he even could. It was so jarring that it made Joey finally look away from Yugi. Looking at Ryou didn't tell him anything new, the albino's hair was still hanging over his face. Even stronger this time came the feeling that something was not right here, and Joey found himself moving his hand to put it on Ryou's shoulder and opening his mouth to ask what the problem was. Screw the doctor giving him shit for it, this guy was his friend. 

"Ryou isn't here." Instead of mild and polite, Ryou's voice was raspy and cocky. Joey withdrew his hand almost reflexively. What the fuck?

He almost jumped in his seat when he felt a hand gently brush his other arm, but of course it was only Yugi; wide-eyed but calm. "... That's Bakura." 

Of course it was. Joey knew he shouldn't be surprised, but Ryou had always seemed so in touch with shit that he was anyways. He'd just been inclined to believe the guy actually had a brother. Guess not. 

Ryou - or Bakura, or whatever - had on one of the biggest and creepiest grins Joey had ever seen. There were more teeth in it than it seemed like there were supposed to be in mouths, and it was all that was really visible of his face. His hands went up to tangle in his own hair, messing it up. "Hello doctor; fellow inmates. We meet again." Bakura leaned back in the chair, making it creak, and crossed one leg over the other. 

Glancing around, it seemed that Joey was the only one totally stunned by this transformation. As out of character as it seemed, it was obviously nothing new. Huh. He supposed he'd finally figured out what Ryou's issue was. 

The doctor rested his elbows on his knees. "Bakura, you know that we don't think of you as inmates here. You're patients, and this is a mental health clinic that hopes to re-integrate you into society." 

"Don't make me laugh." The words were almost a growl, and if it weren't for the accent it wouldn't sound like Ryou's voice at all. "We all know what fucking rejects we are."

"That's a self-appointed title. Do you have something to say, Bakura? Is that why you're here?"

"Sure." Bakura finally shook his hair out of his face, and Joey couldn't help but be shock again by how different Ryou looked. He knew that it was just his expression and attitude, but he looked so much harder; sharper, that it would be easy to believe this was a different person. Bakura's grin became a lopsided smirk, and he stuck up both middle fingers at the doctor. 

Joey fought a smile. Yeah, me too buddy. 

The psychologist ignored him, though there was a visible tick in his temple. "Is Ryou trying to hide something from us today?"

"You know," the voice was casual but Joey knew from running with gangs that the glint in the eyes was anything but, "if you don't leave my brother alone, I'll bleed you like a stuck pig."

"If you don't calm down," the doctor said slowly, "I'll call security to sedate you."

Joey had no idea why that made him snap. Maybe it was just because his patience was so frayed from the guy pissing around earlier, but Yugi and Ryou were his friends and fuck if he was going to watch them get picked on. "Hey, if he's not a fuckin inmate stop treatin him like one, buddy. You threaten him again and I'll take you to the cleaners,"Joey growled, not thinking before he spoke which was very usual for when he was in a fit of rage especially. 

"Oh please," Bakura muttered, slowly but very firmly pushing away the hand that Joey had hardly noticed he'd thrown in front of him. "I can take care of myself."

"Calm down, Joesph," the therapist said in that fucking condescending quiet voice. Joey totally lost it. He stood up so fast that his chair rattled against the floor, body poised for a fight. 

"I told you don't call me that," he snarled. "You _don't call me that_." A little hand grabbed his wrist, but he shook it off thoughtlessly. "You fuck off, and you fuck off these two, you old fat bastard. You's so busy stuffing your mouth with cock you'd fuck up diag-nosin shit that was taking a dump on your feet, and..."

Things got fuzzy. 

Joey didn't remember being stuck with the needle, but he'd seen it happen a handful of times since he'd been here, so he knew it must have happened. Fuck off. 

As much as his head felt like it was full of cotton balls, Joey realized almost right away that he wasn't in his own room. He'd love to say it was because this one lacked even a tiny window, but really the first thing he noticed was that the ballpoint pen 'cunt' graffiti on the wall next to his pillow wasn't there. He made himself sit up, dazedly wondering where he actually was. It looked like a jail cell, though a very clean and white one; while his room just mostly looked like a really shitty room that happened to have a tiny window and a steel door. There were restraints on this bed, though he guessed he hadn't been put in them as they weren't on him now. 

Hm. Maybe the drugs were still affecting him a little. Maybe. 

"You're new."

The voice confused him until he turned all the way around and finally really took in that the front of the room was barred, like a real jail cell. Someone was looking at him very intently from the cell across the small hallway and one down the line. Even though they weren't that near each other, Joey noticed his pale blue eyes. They were sort of creepy, and let him know for sure he hadn't met this guy before. He'd remember. "Who're you?"

"Seto Kaiba. It's possible you've heard of me." The stranger - Kaiba or whatever - leaned against the corner of his cell to talk. It was the least casual lean Joey had ever seen in his life.

"Nah. But ya sound like a freak."

"Then what are you, Wheeler?" Joey wasn't so spaced out from the drugs that he didn't notice how weird it was that Kaiba knew his name. "At least I never killed my own blood."

"What the fuck?" Joey blurted, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. Was this guy psychic?

"I keep up with relevant news. There isn't a lot to do down here," Kaiba gave him a smirk that honestly would have been creepy on anyone. 

"... I think you're a bigger freak than me if they keep you locked up down here all permanent like," Joey muttered. 

"There's a separation of intelligence between us; it sickens me to draw a comparison between a proven genius and a mangy little street dog, however," he didn't so much as pause for Joey's offended 'Hey!'. "Two more murders in the name of your younger sister would likely put you where I am. Though I doubt you'd have the brain capacity to talk yourself off of death row."

The mere mention of Serenity was enough to make Joey forget any personal offense. "What the fuck do you know about my sister, you bastard?"

"Enough to understand your motives and allow you some small modicum of respect, perhaps. I don't talk to most of the scum that spends time here." 

"I don't want the respect of no fuckin murderer." Joey growled, forgetting that the title could apply to him too. He had no trouble accepting that he'd done the deed, but defining it as murder was totally something else. 

"And I don't want to be subjected to your double negatives."

Joey sat in brooding silence for a while, picking through his thoughts to make better sense of them. He was very aware of Kaiba still watching him. Guess he still wanted to talk. "You have a sister too?" He'd implied that, hadn't he. "You kill her?"

A derisive sound was his answer. "I hope the Thorazine is making you stupider than usual. I have a brother, and every life I've ended was for his benefit. That's something I trust even your tiny mind can relate to."

In any other situation, the constant insults would've probably had Joey at this guy's throat. Drug-addled and behind bars, Joey was mostly curious. "How many lives s'that, anyways?"

"Three." The answer was so fast that It was almost like this guy had known he would ask. Joey doesn't even say anything in response. For some reason he isn't really surprised. "The third I lost my temper. Had I waited, I could've made it look like another suicide or unfortunate accident."

"Guess I'm not smart enough for that," Joey said in a tone that made it clear he was mocking Kaiba. 

"You aren't. Though I don't suppose you would've reacted favorably to an old man who was meant to be your caregiver trying to molest your sister." Kaiba arched his brows in what almost looked like a challenge, but Joey could hear the edge of cold rage in his voice at the memory. He could almost sympathize - he was starting to feel the flush of anger even at the idea of something like that. 

There was honestly only one thing Joey could think of to say. It was something he'd only asked himself once since he'd shot his father, and it hadn't been a hard answer to come up with. "Was it worth it?"

Again, there was no hesitation. "Yes."

"Guess we have more in common than I thought, freak."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah it was Pegasus


	4. Chapter 4

There was a quiet click as the door popped open. Joey had been dozing, but wasn't asleep; and the sound kicked him into high alert. He froze in place, stiff as a board, and waited for his boozed up dad to try and wake him up to harass him. Better him than Serenity, at least. 

Wait. What?

Dad's dead. 

"Hey?" It was Yugi's voice, and that brought him to full awareness. The side of the bed dipped a little and the door clicked closed again, turning everything to pitch darkness. 

"What're ya doin here, Yug?" Joey asked, sounding a lot more groggy than he'd expected. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, managing to pick out the outline of Yugi's messy hair in the dark.

"Well..." He sounded a little sheepish. "We wanted to see if you were okay. Seto messes some people up pretty bad, and you had no idea what to expect..."

"Psh. That freak, mess with me? Nah." We? For a few confused moments, he wondered if Ryou was going to reopen the door and join them; then he realized that Yugi was probably talking about Yami. 

Yugi giggled. "I should've known. No one messes with you." 

_Except you_ , Joey found himself thinking. Then he wondered what he even meant by that. "Uh. Yeah! That Kaiba guy's just some crazy fuck. He ever bothered you? I'll give him a piece of my mind."

Yugi laughed quietly again. "No! I've never been down there. They take Bakura sometimes, though. So I've heard a lot about it." With Joey's eyes adjusting to the dark he could actually sort of see Yugi now, a cheerful little shape only a few inches away on the bed. 

"Oh yeah, how's uh... Bakura doin?" Joey wasn't sure if he should say Ryou or not. Did Yugi think they were separate people? It would make sense in a crazy person sort of way, Joey thought. 

"He isn't back to Ryou yet, but... Sometimes it takes a couple of days. I really missed you during free time. Bakura's a little hard to be around." Yugi said sadly. 

"I can get that. Seems like an... Intense guy." To say the least, from what Joey had seen. "He doesn't say any a that scary shit to you, does he?" He felt a surge of protectiveness. He'd left Yugi alone with no one but that psycho all day. 

"Oh? No, of course not! He usually doesn't talk much, and he never wants to do anything. If he does, he cheats or breaks things and laughs about it. So he's just really no fun." Yugi said. Joey could feel his warmth where they were closest. 

"... Yanno, I actually thought Ryou had a brother in here too. Maybe not my brightest moment, eh?" It wasn't until Joey had already said it that he realized it might not be the best thing to say to Yugi, of all people. 

Yugi didn't seem bothered. "Well... Bakura was Ryou's twin brother, so you're a little right? There was some kind of accident, and Bakura died." He was speaking in an even more hushed voice than before, leaning close. "Ryou didn't take that well, so. Mm. I guess he thinks he is him? Or that a part of Bakura is him? I never understood it well. Honestly I don't think he does either... I know sometimes he kind of forgets Bakura is dead. You know how he's kind of... Spacey. Heh." Yugi gave a sad little shadow of a laugh. 

Joey paused to digest that for a moment. "Yanno, I can't help wonderin what he did that got him in here, right? Someone as sweet and quiet as him. Guess he wasn't himself at the time."

"Yeah..." Yugi shifted position again, and part of his thigh rested against Joey's. It was suddenly sort of hard to think about anything except that, despite how serious the conversation was. "I think it was only petty crimes? But I'd say most of the reason he's here is... Well. Bakura killed their little sister. Ryou was there or something? Of course now he says he did it. Because he's both of them." He sounded awkward and halting when he spoke, like he was saying something illegal and the cops might come for him at any moment. 

"Well shit," Joey breathed. "That's rough."

"Yeah," Yugi's voice actually trembled a little. "I mean... That's what we've figured out, anyways? He doesn't always know everything, and... I don't like making people talk about that stuff. Yami's a little more observant than me, and we've talked about it kind of a lot? I guess that sounds weird, but..." Even in the low light Joey could see that he was chewing at his lip. "I mean he's a really good friend and I just want to understand?"

"Nothin wrong with that," Joey said. He reached out to put a hand on Yugi's shoulder, then realized he wasn't too sure where that was. He ended up brushing his fingers up against Yugi's cheek instead. "Whoops. Sorry."

Yugi just giggled. The bed shifted and the plastic crinkled under the sheets as he leaned in a little, then Joey was leaning in too and suddenly; before he could really even figure out what was going on or why they were moving towards each other like that they were kissing. 

As soon as their lips touched, both of Yugi's little hands came to cup Joey's cheeks. It was obvious this was not his first kiss. For such an innocent looking boy, Yugi was sure moving his mouth pretty insistently. This was no hesitant kiss. This was no accident. 

Joey wasn't inexperienced, though admittedly he'd only kissed girls. He'd thought about guys, even jerked off to gay porn; but he'd never run into one personally that he really wanted to kiss. It wasn't until now that he realized how much he'd really wanted to kiss Yugi. He managed to find Yugi's waist with his hands and felt the warmth of him through his stupid button up pajama shirt. 

"Wow," Yugi said with a nervous little giggle when they broke apart to breathe. Joey could imagine how those pretty purple eyes must be glowing with excitement - he could hear it in Yugi's voice - and wished he could see it too. "You um, seem kind of straight, did you know?"

Joey chuckled under his breath. He hadn't moved his hands away. "Yeah. Guess I do."

"Kiss me more," Yugi said decisively, crawling right into Joey's lap and planting his hands on his shoulders. 

He didn't bother answering. Kissing Yugi was almost easier than breathing just then. 

They hadn't talked about it. They kissed in the dark and smiled against each other's lips, and eventually Yugi tore himself away because they'd find out he wasn't in his room. Joey pulled him back and they laughed and kissed one last time, then Yugi slipped away like a dream. Joey fell back asleep happier than he could ever remember. 

Then he opened his eyes in the hallway outside his dad's bedroom. He felt the cold metal grip of the cheap pistol in his hand. His thumb found the safety, and the click was deafening. Of course Joey knew how to shoot a gun. No one could grow up where he grew up and not know how. 

He stared at the door for a long time. He thought about what he'd do if he opened it and his dad was just sitting there awake. Would it matter? No, there was no way. Dad had been drinking since 6 o'clock. The empty bottles in the living room said he must be out cold. The bruises on Joey's ribs made him wish the old man had passed out sooner. 

Serenity must be asleep by now. She had to be. 

He turned the knob. Growing up with a dad like his had made him the master of opening doors without the latch making a sound, and this was no exception. The room was totally still. Dad was too deeply asleep for even his usual half-snores. It was dark, but the light from the street lamps outside let him see the clear outline of the man in the bed. Three steps brought him level with the end of the bed. 

Joey raised the gun, his arm straight and sure. He didn't tremble at all. This close he didn't bother to look down the sight - he just pointed at the lump in the blankets. He had a sudden, crazy thought of his dad coming through the door behind him, asking him what the _fuck_ he thought he was doing and raising a fist, no, a broken bottle, and...

Joey stilled the tremor in his hand. He had to do this real quick, Serenity was asleep just down the hall. He took a deep breath. His ribs hurt.

It seemed like he'd barely squeezed the trigger when the gun kicked back. The air was thick with smoke and tasted metallic, but now it was so easy that he couldn't even remember making the choice to pull the trigger again and again and again. He didn't stop even when he heard the clicks of the empty clip. 

He tossed the gun on the floor. 

"Hello, 9-1-1. Fire, police or ambulance?"

"My dad's been shot."

"Where are you? I'll send an ambulance right away..."

"He's dead."

"Is the shooter still in the house?"

"Yeah."

"Is there any way for you to exit the building?" 

"It was me."

"Pardon?" 

"I shot him." 

He sat on the porch and waited for the cops to come. When they did, he put his hands up and then behind his back, more obedient and docile than he'd ever been for authority in his life. 

"Just go get my baby sister. Please, I shoved a chair under her doorknob so she didn't hafta see. Take her some place safe." They didn't give any indication they'd heard him. He really hoped the cops didn't scare Serenity. 

Joey didn't wake up happy. He woke up with an unbearable heaviness in his chest, and it took him a few minutes to remember Yugi's visit at all. 

Had that been a dream too? It kind of seemed like it. Fuck. Joey scrubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes. That was all he needed, to start having sexy dreams about his innocent little best friend. If his head was going to make things awkward, couldn't he have at least dreamed about fucking him? He could get off to that later. It wasn't like there was any porn in here. 

The more Joey thought about it though, the more he remembered. Hadn't they talked about Ryou a bunch? Like that his nutjob brother died and passed the nutjob torch on to him? Joey was pretty sure he couldn't have dreamed anything like that. Nah. If he'd dreamed them talking about Ryou it would've been a bunch of shit that made no sense, if he'd remembered it at all.

So he really did kiss Yugi? 

That improved Joey's mood. Were they just going to not say anything this morning? Well, he was pretty sure shit would go down if any of the asshole old farts running this place found out. Did that mean he wasn't going to get any more of that? Was this a one time midnight makeout session? Yugi seemed pretty enthusiastic about the whole thing. That meant he liked Joey, right?

Well, he obviously _liked_ him, but did he really like him? What the hell did Serenity call it? Like-like?

Joey wrinkled his nose at his own thought process. That was awful. Jesus, he just wanted to know if Yugi dug him. Did Yugi dig him? Was Yugi like, really into him?

What the hell, he couldn't believe he was thinking shit like this. It hardly even mattered, they spent too much time under observation to... date - or whatever? - Anyways. 

Joey got changed and finger-combed his hair so it didn't stick out stupid before heading into the hall. As usual, Marik was only just managing to stumble out of his room, looking still half asleep at least. 

"Morning," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes like a little kid. There were black smudges all over from that huge eyeliner he always did, and Joey thought he looked particularly like he'd been punched in the face this morning. As always, he was barefoot and wearing half a shirt. 

"Hey," Joey grunted. He hung back a second so that Marik could shuffle down the hall with him. 

"Why can't I shower before everyone has to see me," Marik whined as he pulled his hair into a ponytail. "I'm so gross."

"Shaddup, you look great." Joey said. This happened nearly every morning and he'd figured out that saying something like that was the fastest way to make Marik stop pouting about not being able to redo his makeup before breakfast. Predictably, a small smile appeared and they walked down the rest of the hall in silence. 

"How long you been here again?"

"Hm? Oh, since I was twelve," Marik said absently. 

"Guess you never, I dunno, got to date or nothin like that." Joey kind of couldn't believe he was actually talking about this, but he couldn't get his mind off of it and he was curious about how often people snuck around in here. 

Marik actually snorted. "Are you offering? Sorry, you're not my type."

"What? No. I just wanna know what the hell you do when you're locked up and can't try to fuck people."

Breaking into a fit of tired snickers, Marik made a jerk-off motion with his hand. "Really though, it's pretty hard to keep teenagers away from each other." They reached the cafeteria, lining up to receive their breakfast trays, which would no doubt hardly resemble food. Yugi and Ryou were in the other breakfast section, which had access to the showers first; and since Marik seemed to disdain almost everyone other than Joey (for what reason he had no idea) they usually sat alone. 

"See, that's what I was thinkin," Joey said. "They don't watch us close 'nough so people can't mess around."

Marik winked at him before taking his tray and staring at it with distaste. 

"What? Oh come on, who the hell?" Joey put off taking his own tray for a second so that he could Marik's ponytail like he was a second grade girl. 

"Don't act so surprised, you bastard!" Marik elbowed him sharply in the side. He sounded extremely offended, but Joey knew by now it was mostly his dramatic flair. "And I'm not telling."

"Why?"

"Mm. Mostly because you want to know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well that was a mixed bag wasnt it


End file.
